Public Health Approaches to the Opioid Crisis

This is a past event

Overcoming Obstacles to Community-Driven Solutions

Description

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health estimates that in 2018 alone, approximately 2,000 people died in the Commonwealth from opioid-related overdoses. The overwhelming majority of those who died of overdoses that year tested positive for substances banned under the Controlled Substances Act, such as fentanyl (89%), cocaine (48%), and heroin (34%). This panel discussed community-driven, evidence-based public health strategies aimed at reducing overdose deaths in hard-to-reach populations in Massachusetts, including fishing families, veterans, and individuals who are incarcerated. The panel also examined federal, state, and local obstacles that undermine the implementation and success of community-driven approaches to the crisis.

This event was free and open to the public.

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Sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University, with support from the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.